1535: What is the ruling
on a person insisting by an oath that his Lord should do something?

Is it permissible for any person
nowadays to swear an oath insisting that Allaah should do something that he wants, or not?

Published Date: 2000-01-30

Praise be to Allaah.

It is not permissible to swear an oath saying I
swear, O Lord, that You should send down rain, or defeat the Jews, or make So and so
rich, or give him such and such, or do for me what I ask in this place, and so on. This
implies that a person is obliging his Lord to do something, but it is Allaah Who controls
the affairs of His slaves, and His slave has no right to make demands of his Lord or try
to oblige Him to do anything. This goes against Tawheed, or it either compromises its
integrity or uproots it altogether, depending on the persons intentions. The reports
about some of the Salaf insisting by an oath that Allaah should do something probably
refer to their duaas (supplications). The hadeeth of the Prophet
(peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him): There are among the slaves of Allaah those who, if
they were to insist by an oath that Allaah should do something, He would fulfil it (narrated
by al-Bukhaari, 2703) is hypothetical in nature, meaning that Allaah would
respond to such a person's duaa although it is known that nobody would dare to
address their Lord in this manner. And Allaah knows best.